St Regis New York: Table 55 Decadence at the King Cole Bar and a Spectacular Stay

100   Recommended
Room 521 , Astor Suite
March 13, 2018 by EXPERT

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The St. Regis New York
 Map | 5 Reviews | 60% Recommended

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Room 521

Astor Suite

Liked:
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Astor Suite

After spending more than 2 weeks of work throughout the East Coast, I met my husband in New York at the St Regis New York for a weekend of sheer extravagance.

This was our first stay at the original St Regis since its complete renovation in 2013. To us, the renovation was very successful in blending the classic Beaux Arts tradition of this legendary hotel with the more modern amenities and style of a contemporary luxury hotel. Still, having been to over a dozen different St. Regis properties throughout the world in recent years, the St. Regis New York flagship still reveals a more formal atmosphere than most of its brand counterparts. We, however, are anything but formal in our manner--and we still felt wonderfully comfortable and welcome throughout our stay.

Because we rarely get to New York, I decided to really splurge. I chose this weekend since I was able to get a very good $600 rate for an entry level room, which also made me optimistic for our chances for an upgrade using 2 Suite Night Awards; we were confirmed for the Astor Suite upgrade the Sunday before our Friday arrival. (SNAs are an SPG Platinum elite perk for any Platinum with more than 50 nights.)

Completing our splurge, I booked Table 55 in the St. Regis' legendary King Cole Bar for our Friday night dinner. The St Regis concierge team booked us famed Eleven Madison Park for our Saturday night dinner with friends, as well as a table at the nearby Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel for drinks before dinner. All in all, this weekend was to be a total splurge in food and beverage--and it was all that and more!

The St. Regis New York is as decadent as its legendary past would suggest. Even after the renovation, the hotel's tradition is obvious.

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The bellman station evokes the past immediately:

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The entry doorways:

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The lobby and registration/front desk:

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The concierge desk:

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Hallway from main lobby to the Astor Court restaurant/King Cole Bar:

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The Cognac Room:

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The Astor Court restaurant (with the King Cole Bar in the rear):

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The legendary King Cole Bar:

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The hallway on the 5th floor truly exuded the more modern elegance that showcases the success of the recent renovation.

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I also should mention that I noticed other reviews of this hotel suggesting falsely that photos were prohibited in the lobby. I began taking photos in the lobby almost immediately on arrival, and no one seem to care at all. I actually asked at the front desk and was told it was fine, too. 

Check In

Check in was easy and quick. My husband arrived a few hours before I did, and he was checked in easily without me and escorted to the elevators. On exiting the elevators on the 5th floor, there was a butler awaiting him to escort him to our Astor Suite. Again, we already had been upgraded to the Astor Suite 5 days prior to arrival when my Suite Night Awards had cleared. 

I arrived at the hotel and simply went straight to meet my husband in the Suite.

Room

The Astor Suite is listed at 600 square feet but certainly and surprisingly felt much larger. It was extremely well laid out and felt very luxurious, very comfortable, and quite spacious. The shower room in the master bath was the only element that felt a little small. While the decor isn't our style, it still felt very rich, sumptuous, and elegant. True and total luxury, indeed, very appropriate for the flagship property of the St Regis brand.

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To the right of the entry hallway was a powder bath:

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To the left across the hallway was a closet (where you can see how the butler unpacked me):

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The living room was very comfortable and surprisingly spacious, with loads of natural light despite our mere 5th floor location. The mirrors also worked beautfully to enhance the natural light and add to the feeling of space:

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The bedroom was separated by sliding doors:

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The lighting controls were intuitive and not dissimilar to those we use at home. (These look to be Crestron.)

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There was a small closet off the bedroom, though the entry hallway closet was larger:

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The master bath was spacious and comfortable for the two of us, though the shower room was pretty small:

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On arrival, the suite was preset to 68 F based on my husband's request. Once I arrived, I asked them to set it a bit lower:

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My husband was none too thrilled. He always brings warm clothing to wear inside, knowing how cold I love it. He might have been a wee bit melodramatic in this case, wearing his winter jacket, but I was in heaven. Suffice to say that the air con worked like a charm and got as low as 61 F.

Our only real quibbles with the room were with the small shower and the lack of power outlets on either side of the bed. There were plenty of power outlets near the wall by the desk in the living room and elsewhere in the suite, however. 

Shower pressure was amazing--and the shower head pushed out incredible pressure in the softest way I've ever enjoyed. It's an incredibly inefficient use of water that felt amazing, was extremely luxurious, but not something we ever can enjoy in drought-prone California. So we loved it here. 

All in all, the suite was extraordinarily comfortable for us. The bed was fabulous, the chairs and couch were supremely comfortable, and the lighting and air con worked perfectly and easily for us. Everything seemed very intuitive. While the decor isn't to our taste, it really did feel luxurious and chic in a traditional yet still modern way. 

We could have stayed a week and been just as comfortable. Very impressive.

Service

Service at the St Regis New York was extraordinary--though we did have two minor issues. Those were handled almost immediately, though, and the service recovery was excellent.

I expect a lot from St Regis, and the St Regis New York delivered in spades. 

First, the concierge team is incredible.

They first indicated that they were unable to book Eleven Madison Park due to the Tock reservation system, much as almost every other luxury indicates. Regardless, the team worked closely with me to get reservations at other top restaurants (Le Bernadin, Chef's Table) while also trying to get me permission to not have to wear a jacket. The efforts the team went to were truly impressive. We developed quite a rapport over those efforts, leading them to realize that the main reason for our stay was actually to dine at Eleven Madison Park. They then insisted that they would get it done for us--and they did. At 8:59 am on February 1, there were 4 concierge team members logging into my Tock account to get me the EMP reservation, and they got it. I was elated and blown away. 

The concierge team also managed to book us a table at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel for the Saturday night befoure our EMP dinner. Not an easy get, but the team had connections. 

The concierge team also recommended all sorts of restaurants for us for Satuday lunch, where we had to meet friends and their kids. We eventually settled on Cosme, though out friends made the actual booking.

The concierge team here is truly among the best we've ever encountered. Maria, the chief concierge, is an absolute marvel and delight.

Second, the food and beverage team really went above and beyond for us with Table 55 (described below in more detail) and every other food/beverage experience we enjoyed at the hotel. Food and beverage here is top drawer, among the best in the world.

We worked in advance with the F/B team on our Table 55 experience, but the whole team really was incredible during our actual stay. From the bar staff in the King Cole to the F/B managers to the wait staff at the Astor Court restaurant, everyone was incredibly friendly, incredibly gracious, and also incrediblty fun! I thinik our casual nature helped relax them as much as their graciousness helped relax us! Special mention must be given to George of the King Cole Bar and to Royce, one of the F/B managers, both of whom really made our Table 55 and other dining moments spectacular. William, the F/B director, even went so far as to bring a rare bottle of Lagavulin he recently acquired from the distillery so we could try it during our Table 55 experience. Unbelievably amazing. (My husband finally found a Lagavulin whose peat he didn't despise.)

Even when we dropped by the King Cole Bar for a drink the next night after our Eleven Madison Park dinner, the team brought us a cheese and fruit plate on the house:

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And the petit fours afterward were quite yummy, too!

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Third, the butler team was impressive and very helpful, though we did have one quibble.

The butlers unpacked me and packed me, even managing to largely keep my clothes and shoes separate from my husband's--not an easy feat for anyone, since it's not so obvious for a gay couple! It was wonderful to arrive, freshen up, and leave for Table 55 in the bar and return late that night all unpacked. It was just as nice to head down to breakfast our final morning and return to the suite all packed and ready to go!

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The butlers were extremely quick with morning coffee service, as well.

Butler morning coffee service:

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Our one quibble with butler service was the fact that you didn't call the butlers directly but spoke to an operator--this was a little clumsy in execution from my perspective, something I shared with the hotel afterward. The operator first told us that we couldn't get hot milk with our morning butler coffee service--which was ridiculous. That was quickly remedied, and we had no issue again with our second morning butler coffee service. The Director of Rooms actually sent me an apology email and credited my SPG account 10,000 points by way of further apology for that mistake. To me, it was a minor mistake, but the way the hotel acknowledged it and tried to remedy it truly was impressive. 

As always, we had a lovely welcome note and welcome gift from the hotel--though my husband enjoyed it a bit before I arrived to take a photo!

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Our only other quibble was on check out, when we realized we couldn't pack the free glasses the hotel had given us as part of the Table 55 experience. (They also gave us a free sabre to commemorate the experience, but we were able to pack that!) They previously had offered to send those to us so we asked for that on check out at the front desk. A very surly front desk agent didn't really listen to us and summarily dismissed us to the gift shop--so we simply asked the concierge about it, who readily apologized and promptly took care of it. The Director of Rooms later apologized again when made aware of the slight after we had returned home. I felt the 10,000 points already given were sufficient apology for both minor quibbles, so I asked for nothing more. 

Otherwise, every other interaction we had at the St Regis was stupendous and wonderfully gracious. The housekeepers were remarkably friendly and helpful, even going so far as to always remember to bring extra water whenever they serviced the room--after we asked but once.

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The doormen were always willing to lend a hand, offering to carry our bags at every step (though we routinely demur and almost always prefer to carry our own bags). 

To sum up, service at the St Regis New York is to the highest standard. It's so good that we can't imagine staying anywhere else in the future. Having previously loved the Chatwal (and preferring its beautiful Art Deco design) and loving the Gramercy Park Hotel (and its more boutique feel), we still cannot pass up the tremendous service at the St Regis. It's just that good.

Dining

I discuss Table 55 in its own section below, but suffice to say that it is incredible. It's so amazing that we already know we will do it again at some point in the future--even knowing the $2500 minimum spend price tag. That's really saying something to my mind.

Having had such a tremendous experience at Table 55 for our first evening, we really were looking forward to the other food and beverge offerings at the hotel. And they didn't disappoint.

We also had a light Saturday lunch and both of our breakfasts at the Astor Court restaurant. The Astor Court restaurant is breathtakingly beautiful, elegant, and comfortable--reminding me a bit of the amazing bar space at the Hotel Imperial in Vienna--so it's a wonderful space to enjoy any food or drink.

The food in all cases was excellent.

Our breakfasts at Astor Court:

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Our final mornining, I had to go for broke and ordered the Astor omelette:

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That omelette was as decadent as it was delicious. Just like our weekend!

The pancakes, the waffle, and omelette--everything was just so delicious. 

The overall breakfast menu was so impressive and amazing, I think I coud stay here for a month and never get bored:

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And that was just the regular breakfast menu. They don't start Sunday brunch until 12 pm, so I can only imagine (and salivate). Next time...for sure!

Our light lunch at Astor Court (before our dinner at Eleven Madison Park):

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Those deviled eggs were so delicious. I still salivate thinking about them!

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Basically, food and beverage were to the highest standard at the St Regis New York. It's one of the reasons I often love St. Regis hotels, and the New York flagship really stands out as one of the best--if not the very best we've ever enjoyed.

Table 55 at the King Cole Bar

I knew I wanted to try the Table 55 experience at the King Cole Bar the moment I read about it. I am a huge fan of hotel bars, and the King Cole Bar's most famous and exclusive table seemed a wonderful way to immortalize our weekend here. Boy, was I right!

Table 55 is the only table you can reserve at the King Cole Bar, with a $2500 minimum spend. It is located directly to the right of the bar in the corner of the King Cole Bar room. 

I planned for Table 55 for our Friday night after arrival. I worked with the F/B team in advance of our stay to create menu options to our liking, as well as letting them know what types of wine and spirits were most appealing to us. In the end, the team still did far more for us than even I had hoped they would. The Table 55 experience, expensive as it was, was one of the most memorable dining experiences we've ever enjoyed; considering how many 3* Michelin and San Pellegrino Top 50 restaurants we've enjoyed, that's really saying something (not to mention that Table 55 surpassed the food and service quality of 3* and current world No. 1 Eleven Madison Park the very next night).

We were quite surprised to learn that it was only the 3rd time in about 10-11 months that Table 55 had been booked. Talk about making us feel special (and perhaps just a bit crazy for spending so much).

We started the evening with a St Regis tradition: the sabering of a Champagne bottle. Shockingly, despite having been to so many St Regis properties around the world, this is the first and only time I've ever seen this. They'd already done it once (they do it every night here), but they did it again for us as part of the Table 55 experience. 

Video of the champage sabering:

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They even had an engraved sabre as a parting gift for us. A very nice touch!

Then we took our place at Table 55:

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The view of the bar from our Table 55 vantage point:

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The "menu" that I'd organized from which we would sample. As it turned out, the chef already had prepared for everything on the menu.

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We started off with a special bottle of Lagavulin available only at the distillery, brought to us special by William, the F/B director of the hotel, upon learning how much I love a peated single malt:

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We had a few drams, and they were very nice--and surprisingly smooth for 54.1% alcohol. Even my husband enjoyed it--a first. 

We also selected several bottles of wine for the duration of our dinner experience. I think the team fudged the numbers a bit to get the whole thing to come to just over $2500!

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The setting was sublime, including the Christofle silverware:

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Then the food. It was SUBLIME.

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Then we were joined by one of our girlfriends living in the city:

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And dinner resumed:

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While almost every dish was incredibly good, the Foie Gras Bomb below was truly spectacular. I am not normally a big fan of foie gras, and have only enjoyed it at some of the best restaurants in the world. But I often use foie gras to judge how good a chef can be, since I obviously only enjoy foie gras with great chefs. This one was so good that I nearly ate it all, despite it being so rich and filling. My husband and our girlfriend ate only half of theirs because it was so damn filling--and incredible. I still can taste the finish. And it paired beautifully with the late harvest Reisling that they picked out and suggesged to us just for this course.

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The escargot ravioli dish below was the only course that left us disappointed. It just didn't do much for us. 

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By this point, we really were starting to get quite full! So the chef adjusted and brought the rest of our meal on one platter from which we could pick at our leisure.

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By the time the dessert came out, I could only have a bite.

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We all were stuffed! Except for the one escargot ravioli course, we absolutely loved every single course--and were blown away by the chef's creativity and mastery, not to mention how well our wines paired with so many different courses!

The chef and our hilarious server, George (who has worked here at the King Cole Bar for 26 years!):

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The King Cole Bar officially closes at 1:00 am, but the team made it clear that could stay as long as we liked. We departed at 1:30 am after taking some photos. (Please note that started at 8:45 pm!)

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Our dinner was incredible, to put it mildly. The food was incredible. The presentations were incredible. The wine was incredible. The wines paired incredibly well with all of the food. The service was incredible. The entire experience truly was just fabulous and incredily memorable. We had so much fun, as well.

It's hard to imagine, but we feel like we got a deal with the $2508 charge (plus tax, coming to just under $2800 without tip) for the experience. The team was that impressive, the food and service were that amazing, and the wine was that fantastic (and rare). 

We didn't realize it yet, but the Table 55 dinner experience vastly surpassed the food and service quality we had the next night at Eleven Madison Park. Eleven Madison Park was very good, but the food, presentation, and service were significantly better and vastly more memorable at Table 55. There really was no comparison. That was a surprise.

The team also had presented us with the gift engraved saber and two engraved glasses to commemorate our experience. Very sweet.

Fortunately, Carolina also defeated Dook in the ACC Tournament Semifinals while we were at Table 55, so we always will remember! (You don't know how torn I was to miss a Carolina-Dook game while in the same city, but Table 55 was so amazing that it made me forget occasionally about the game. My husband never would have let me go, anyway.) Of course, once Carolina won, I did have to loudly proclaim "Go Tar Heels" and "Dook sucks" to everyone in the bar...with a very classy moment with a particular finger. I still was drinking the 1976 red Burgundy, so I assumed that would balance out my obvious lack of class. The bar crowd seemed highly entertained. Thankfully, no Dookies were present (or willing to admit it if they were).

To sum up, Table 55 was sublime. We already know that we will do it again sometime in the future. We highly recommend it without a single reservation. 

Location

While I don't love the Midtown location, it turned out to be very convenient for us. It was just a 10-15 min Uber ride to Cosme and to the Rose Bar/Gramercy Park Hotel (and nearby Eleven Madison Park). 

Rose Bar at Gramercy Park Hotel

Being such a hotel bar fanatic, I couldn't resist getting a table at the famed Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel. My husband had never been here, but it's one of my favorites in the city.

The fact that the hotel also is a part of the Starwood Design Hotels isn't lost on me. Between the St. Regis, the Chatwal, and the Gramercy Park hotels, Starwood really has some of the nicest hotels in the city.

The St Regis concierge team had secured us a table here. It's not an easy get, especially if you're not a hotel guest.

We had great service--the hostess even moved us to a more spacious sofa at our request. And the drinks were wonderful. 

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My husband also had never been to the hotel...and didn't realize that it was the inspiration for our custom home's great room fireplace mantle.

The Gramery Park Hotel lobby fireplace:

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Our home living room:

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Dinner at Eleven Madison Park

For those interested, I had been dying to try Eleven Madison Park for years. It obviously was recently renovated and reopened to a simpler menu. The net effect for us was underwhelming. The food and service were very good, but the food lacked creativity and inventiveness to our estimation. The service was good but pretty uptight overall, and the team had some misses: we waited for almost 10 min after water was served, requiring me to ask for someone to get us started, and my husband's wine pairings were not always introduced. I had the premium wine pairings, and my husband had the regular wine pairings, and both left us underwhelmed. 

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View from our table (before our friends arrived):

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The next course was one of our 2 favorites: an egg sandwich with caviar. It was delicious.

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The next course gave a choice between a greens course, a scallop course, or a foie gras course. 

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Next was lobster--which was terrible. I assume overcooked or not fresh, but it was extremely difficult to cut and we all despised it. 

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A truffle pizza was very good:

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The next course offered another choice between duck and venison. I had the duck, which was 1 of our 2 favorite courses. The venison wasn't as good but looked great.

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For dessert, there was a choice between a chocolate mousse course and a butternut squash ice cream cake. Both were good, but not particulary memorable.

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There were no petit fours or other end of dinner nonsense. Nornally, I'd be thankful, but we all were expecting something more?

All in all, our dinner was very good. But it wasn't in any way a really standout dinner by any measure. The egg caviar sandwich and duck were the standouts, and they were truly delicious--but only the egg caviar sandwich remotely pushed any boundaries. The lobster course was downright terrible--we debated about sending it back, but decided against it.

My husband didn't think our dinner was worthy of 3 stars. I know it wasn't worthy of a top 10 ranking on the Pellgerino list, let alone a No. 1 ranking. Either way, this meal paled in comparison to our vastly superior dinner experience the previous night at Table 55 in the King Cole Bar at the St Regis. 

Overall

We loved our stay at the St Regis New York. We obviously got great value from my elite status allowing us to get the beautiful Astor Suite upgrade, but the overall service and food/beverage experience really make this a special place. The Table 55 dinner was one of our greatest food/beverage experiences of all time, and is one we hope to repeat in the future. The fact that we absolutely preferred Table 55 to Eleven Madison Park speaks volumes.

The St Regis decor isn't really to our style, but the classic modern luxury, incredible service, and tremendous food and beverage make this our future home away from home whenever we get to NYC.

The St Regis New York certainly has earned itself a place on our all-time favorites list in the world (and only 3rd in the USA)--a list that includes Amanjiwo, Amankila, Amangiri, Peninsula Shanghai, St Regis San Francisco, Gritti Palace, Hotel Imperial Vienna, The Upper House, La Residence South Africa, Umaid Bhawan Palace, etc. 

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